In the three years Alex Moyers has owned the Chattanooga Ducks, a lot has changed.
The attraction that gives people a land and water tour of the Scenic City moved from its longtime Fifth Street site across the way to a small lot on Market Street, a recession hit that slowed tourism and a new fleet of the amphibious vehicles was added.
Moyers said he’s also shifted the focus of the Ducks to provide greater safety and a more accurate historical account of Chattanooga.
“We really try to make it a quality experience for people,” said Moyers, who has been in the charter boat industry since the mid-1970s. “It’s not just a ride. When you come, you get the full experience.”
The ex-military vehicles, called DUKWs during World War II when they were used to transport troops and cargo, are now used almost exclusively as tour buses in several places across the country. Though some duck boat companies build replicas of the craft, Moyers said he prefers to use the real deal.
“Ours are all real DUKWs,” he said. “But they’re completely rebuilt. Everything in them is new – engines, transmissions, wiring, safety features, electronics, everything that you can put in there.”
Moyers has four of the 7-ton vehicles – two of which are licensed by the U.S. Coast Guard to operate, one that will be licensed by October and one that is being rebuilt at the company’s shop on West 28th Street.
He said he wants to expand with the growth in Chattanooga and hopes to continue rebuilding and refurbishing one duck each year until he reaches “the level of volume of business that there is here.”
When the Ducks moved from Fifth Street to Market Street two years ago, business dropped off for about a year, but sales have since begun to climb, Moyers said.
The recession, coupled with the move that was forced with the expiration of a 10-year lease, slowed things down but now he can see the Ducks becoming an integral part of his hometown’s tourist scene.
Bob Doak, president and chief executive of the Chattanooga Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the Ducks add to the “intrigue of what Chattanooga has to offer.”
“The Ducks, I do believe, are a vital part of attracting people to Chattanooga,” Doak said. “People really enjoy that mixture of being on land one moment and water the next. Since people are so naturally attracted to water, I believe it’s a perfect combination.”